As if there weren’t enough encouragement already to switch to lower polluting vehicles such as Electric (EV) or Hybrid, the drivers of older diesel and petrol cars face a charge of up to £10 per day to travel into Birmingham city centre from 2020, with the forthcoming introduction of Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone.
The move is intended to reduce pollution to safe levels and is about giving the people of Birmingham the fundamental right of breathing good quality clean air, and, according to the council, not about generating extra revenue from hard pressed motorists.
The exact details have still to be revealed but the plan proposes a system of number plate recognition cameras set up along the ring road to enforce the zone. However drivers whose cars meet the Euro 4 petrol standard – mostly vehicles made since 2006 and Euro 6 diesel vehicles, mostly manufactured since 2015, will be exempt from the charge.
The rest, representing around 45 per cent of the city’s traffic, will face a daily charge from £6 to £10 to travel within the A4540, known as the Middle Ring Road. HGVs, coaches and lorries could pay up to £100.
The council has been set a deadline of 2020 to bring pollution down to legally safe levels and must submit its plans to Government at the end of this summer.
It is time for businesses and the drivers of older cars to look again at the values of switching to EV, which are not only less polluting but have developed greatly over the last few years, offering several great benefits over conventional petrol and diesel vehicles.
Owners of an EV have the advantage of much lower running costs. The electricity to charge an EV an works out around a third as much as buying petrol for the same vehicle.
They are also much cheaper to maintain, a battery operated Electric Vehicle has a lot fewer moving parts than a conventional car.
There is relatively little servicing and no expensive exhaust systems, starter motors, fuel injection systems, radiators and many other parts that aren’t needed in an EV. With just one moving part – the rotor – BEVs are particularly simple and very strong. Just maintain the brakes, tyres and suspension and that’s about it.
Hybrid Electric vehicles, whether plug in or self-charging do cost more to maintain because the petrol engine needs regular servicing, however, because the electrical motor requires little maintenance due to far fewer moving parts, this leads to less wear and tear of the petrol engine components.
Batteries do wear out so replacement batteries will eventually be needed. Most car manufacturers warrant EV batteries for around 8 years.
By choosing to drive an EV, or switching your fleet to EV you will be helping to reduce harmful air pollution from exhaust emissions, and thus not falling foul of Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone and potentially heavy fines!
All you fleet managers and business motorists out there are these savings starting to get your attention?
One reason for the slow adoption of electric vehicles has been the paucity of charging points, this is changing with oil giants such as BP installing them on their forecourts and plans to make including charging points on each property in a new development mandatory.
In the meantime, charging technology has reached a stage now where it is a comparatively simple matter to install a vehicle charger at home, or at a business premises. Indeed many companies ahead of the curve who are already embracing the new vehicle technologies are using the savings to install vehicle charging points on their premises.
Business charging stations can combine automated tracking and invoicing of charging costs, smart configurations for multiple installations, and custom branding options, if required.
Switching to EV is a win-win whether for businesses or individuals, and perhaps Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone is just the nudge we needed to start taking reducing our pollution from motoring seriously.
Electric vehicles are zero polluting, more economical, safer (EVs tend to have a lower centre of gravity and the body construction and durability of EVs may make them safer in a collision,) spend less time being maintained and thus more time on the road.
The business case for Midlands businesses for switching, and installing charging points in their premises is persuasive, even before the introduction of Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone.